Laundry apparatus



May :6, 1930.

LAUNDRY APPARATUS m' i i I l I ,l #rra/Mfr.

B. .1. COADY 1,757,702

B. J. c'oADY LAUNDRY APPARATUS Filed Nov; 20, 192e 3 sheets-sheen 2 May 6, 1930.

May 6, 1930- B. J. coADY 1,757,702

L'AUNDRY A PPARATUS Patented May 6,` 1930 f nauirnagarmaarnsr I applicati@ mea Noemiiegfa'o, y19ers'.L 'serial Ne.`. 1419,51e4.j

This invention relates to laundry appa-k ratus and has more especial relation to a Y machine loi this @haraeter;-K particularly.v and essentially adapted: for commercial use.V The most acceptable methodnoticleaning appears. to=beto place theiarticles to betwashed :inl'a container ;r` forcing i the, fcleansing liquid or j suds thvoughethe articles inthe.cont-amer,z

applying rinsing liquid, and inallyrotating 1G; the; container: with said; articles i thereinxzfor;

. removingttherinsing liquid.thereirolnhyacenr y "-trugaljiorce'..

' The leading object of`the.. {present` inven thelaundry. there 4tion in. charges.;

A p further obj ect 1 ot 'the presentinvention:`

is to1 provide .a 1iovelfarrangement,\`r combina-v tionv and conneetionofi parts for. attaining-the ,A results Vsought zblytheleadingf object :in which.;

the entire washing s operation f. of loading,

washing; and unloadin s oflaundryvarticles may be preferablypracticed in aisingleplane,` orf-in`-other-'words uponione `Hoon level ofi the establishment... s

i il@ further objectresides rintheiprovision 'of aniov'erhea d trackfor the continuous .travel thereonv in gone direction of suspended icon-1 tainers Whichi travelling'from a loading4 stayV tion,. usually1 in: series; `or fgroups, are: irst moved to a washing: .,station; :are:` then-.i` ad. vanced to, a liquidY rinsing'.removing.stationa;v

,40.1. and are Vfinally returned -to an: unloading Staa-g tion..- f

45.; heIseinafteisY The invention; consists :of the? novel con ystruction, hereinafter describedand 'nall'yf claimed@ j y. f

"The nature, characteristic features andscopeof .theiinventionlwillbernore fully un- .derstoodf freni the followingdescription takengin comiecti'onV with l the" accompanying drawings forming part hereo, and inxwhich :v Figg-lgis -a 'view -in plan: ofY laundry.` appa-l ratus embodying the-invention; y LFigzyis a viewfin ,sid'e' elevationillustratiM 'ing certain "partsi shown in Fig. l.

. Fig, 3,` isa rvievvA in.` end: elevation voii the suds tub.f` o Y A Fig- 4, is avfra-grnentaryvie nal section ot the sudstulo- 'l v l 4 Fig. `5,'. is; ka view in= sectionftaken; uponthei- Y Fg( 6i, isv-ayiew vin'` end elevation7 partly sectioned','f` ofithe f track?,` ycarrier I' truely andv carrier, the latter being infpo'sition forheingl rotated;

lin-:ansiada elevationv of the l parts broken'away and! Figsg) Aand 10 "are views in- :perspective of ratchet mea-'ns' shown fin Fig.; 8',l and'v which will ibe. specilically referredv to; hereinafter. For' the purpose of'ill'ustrating ,my invention I have shown in tl-ielaceompanying drawreliable results5- although it is to{` be understood 'that the-various instrumentalities ofl d and that invention isinotlirnited-j *the precise ar'- rangement and "organizationifgthe instruo e .i mentali-ties as" herein]shownandf described; ,Other and further objects of fthe-present f iliaention reside `in the 1 provision of f certain:i novel detailsfof construction as appeamfV f mentali Etruck? foiroperating along said vtrack 5 1 ings onefformthereof f which",is'rat'w present preferred by "me,V sinceI the samejjhasabeen 'foundf inl practice' .to givev #satisfactory and Y a carrier supportedby saidltruck; animmersion tank; a station for carrier rotation;

l ence `numerall designates a loading station 'at which place the attendant in charge and a station to vWhich the carrier is returned, all' of the above parts being preferably located upon a singleioor. Taking up the above vparts in sequential relation,vthe referplaces in a container'or containers 2preferably aV series or group of containers, articles to be Washed. Whenva sufcient number of containershave been-supplied Witlrarticles to. be vvashedthe carriers are' caused to advance toward a suds tub 31. Inithismovement, which asshoivn 1n Fig. 1 1s toward the right, the carriers V*may be movedalong 'the overhead track 4 1n any desired manner.v

" Each carrier, as Will hereinafter"bede scribed, is equipped with an electrical motor; 8, current tolWhich is Ysupplied from Wire'll l through trolley pole. l The trucks and their carriers are moved-towardv ay tank 3 for conf Y taining a cleansing solution., While the carriers are-advancingtoWard and prior to introduction of suds? to the tub 3, an attendant in charge opens the entrance gateof the tuby (which gate Willb'e hereinafterdescribed in detail) to permit the entrance of the series or groupof carriers. VVVith Vthe'group of carriers assembledivithn tub 3 (the respective motors of each travellingtruckof course having been stopped bytheyattendant in charge) ther-said attendantV closes the V"en-V trance gate, and opens valve ofsupplyV pipe v 7 for the'lling of tub 3With cleansing liquid or suds. With the group lof carriers,- containing articles to b ewashed,y arranged with Vin tub 3, the operator at tub 3 now starts the motors` 8 (one. foreach carrier) to .vertically reciprocate the plungerY 9Ain each carrier 2. Thus,asl the plunger 9 of each carrier is vertically reciprocated Within a carrier, the suds are caused to enter and egressthrough the apertured Walls of the container.4 llhenV this reciprocating, plunger operation is con-y tinued for a desired length of-time the oper-- ator in'charge Vwithdraws the cleansing liquid from tub' 3; and continues the operation with a rinsing liquidyopensl the'exit gateV of the tub 3; and advances thjegroup of carrlers ypreviously contained 1in'tub 3. VThe groupgof carriers are again'stopped by the" operator in-charge at WhatI 'term a ..suds

withdrawingstation 51 Where the Vcarrier plungers are elevated-free[ofthe carriers and the carriersrotated.forthe remo-val by centrifugal force of. said'fsudsg- The :car-V riers are Vagain-a s a-groi1p caused'to travel along the overhead,tracktog an 'unloading t station'. @This advance-of containers,from

station` to station, l is continuous in ja l'given direction and preferably inl a singleplane;

` i thatfis, upon oneY floor level.. Thus, `it is apparertryrthatcthe loading andunloading stations mayhem Ycharge of one attendantxand that the tub 3 andstation 51 maybe in the charge of another attendant thus expediting scription of the above described parts Will now Y be given.

Overhead track fthe Washing operation materially. A vdey l Preferably arranged -in Vsubstantially elliptical form, as clearlyillustrated in Fig.

1, are a pair of tracks 10.V VThese tracks 10,

as very clearly shown in Fig. 6, are formed of I-beams and are arranged'in spaced relation. vThe tracks are continuous in continuityand are adapted to have tracked thereon a plurality of trucks Which support thecarriers 2.I i VSince"allthetrucks and since all thejcarriersare of the same construction a description of one Will suiiice, and such description of'truck and its complemental carrier Willnow be given. i

y Truck and its carrier' V Eachtruckf comprises-fa pair of spaced,

horizontallyarrangedI-beams11, see-Fig. 8,

each kof VWhichbeams-:llr is provided'rwith rollers712. These rollers 12 are flanged, as,Y

clearly shoWninFigl 6,"and are adaptedto track upon'the` tracksvl() 'andhaveforthis ,I

purposefswivel relation asat 13. Vlllounted uponeach ofthe trucks above described .is

the motor`8wpreviouslyreferred tof This'V detail Fig. 104.V Shaft; 20 has fixed thereto al carrier 2, which is 'preferably of sheetmetal Vand perforated as at V23. This carrier shafty 2O is provided at its;bottomA with a spherical `meinber24 and'is provided vat its top 'with spherical member 25. The spherical member -Y v 25 isarranged for rotation Within a casing 26 Vcarried by the spring supported platform 27,V as Ycarriedby each I=beam 11. `Worin 17 is in mesh `.with a` Worm wheel 28 turnably mounted on a-shaft30.V The-worm.wheel1 carries a ratchet A adaptedvto `be turned in one direction by a paWl29 carried byanf arm 35 i'keyed to theshaftpseedetailzFig.' 9.

Shaft 30 k*is'in turn provided With a pair' of. i

cranks;31,;pivota1ly:connectedtoA rods 32? f havinglverticaladjustment as at 33 with tubular members '34j i pivotally' connected to the ,plungerl' Duringadvancefof'a carrier the motor 8ffdoest not function.` Hoivever, lwhen acarrier or aplurality thereof have beenadi mit-ted: to a ytub 13 andthe yrespective gates; closed-and the-tub lled- With'v su'ds Vand the motor8 started it"'reciprocatesy plunger `9 in each carrier 2.y This verticalreciprocation of a number 9`is accomplished by means of the ratchet A, shown in Fig.4 9. Thus, as the shaft 20 is rotated the pawl 29 which is fixed to shaft 30 cooperates with 'itsfratchet wheel to maintainthe. movement of shaft 20 1n the proper direction forreciprocating a plunger 9. p i

i n ..Suds tu?) A While a carrier or carriers are arranged within the tub 3 it is necessary that cleansing and rinsing liquid be introduced, which is accomplished through valve connection 7. It

is also essential that when theV carriersare about to be advanced for rotarymovement that the cleansingliquidbe removed, and for Y this purpose valved outlet pipes 37Y arepro-v vi-ded. At each end ofthe tub 3 there is provided a vertically movableV gate, best seen in Fig.4, it being understood that the gate at each end of the tub isof duplicate'construction so thatlit is merely necessary to describe one of these gates. The bottom 33 of the tub 3, and referring now more par-- ticularly to the exit end of the tank (although the entrance end of the tank is of similar construction) is provided with a flat,

cross piece 39 provided with a facing 40 of rubber, canvas, or other suitable material in order to prevent leakageof cleansingliquid when the gates are closed. `Movable vertical ly ina downward direction is a gate 4l comprised of a piece of sheet metal which in cross section, as clearly shown in Fig. 4, isof inverted V-shaped configuration. The spaced faces of the gate are maintained apart'by means of struts'42. Theouter face of the gate is provided with a pair of spaced rack bars 43. These rack bars each have meshing therewith at the lower ends thereof pinionsk 44 mounted upon a horizontalshaft 45. lThe shaft 45 in turn is'connected withv a drive shaft 46 by means of a sprocket chain 47. The shaft 46 is provided with a hand wheel V48 by which motion may beimparted to shaft 46, thereby imparting motion l to I sprocket chain 47 and shaft 45 including gearV 44 to elevateV or lower a gate of the tub 3. As clearly shown in Fig. 5, the side walls of the tub'3 are provided with angle pieces 49 arranged between which and the V-shape gate are rubber, fibre or otherV packing mem-n bers 50. a. Station for centrifugal movement of carrier After the articles in the carriers 2 have been washed at which time the plunger .9,is

vertically reciprocated to thoroughly cause the cleansing liquid in tub 3 to commingle with the articles in the carriers, the valves ofV l the pipes 37 are opened to permit egress of the cleansing liquidV in tub 3. After the tub has been emptied thegates at each end of tub 3 are raised so` that those carriers Within the tubv3 may be passed to the stati0n'51for`ro- A.re

tary-movementandiafnewibatch orgro upfof fcarriagefintroducedrtor .tubLr 3. lakinggnp fnow the -desc'riptioncofitheLstatiom ifor; the: rotary p movement of the' carriers,itisttloenotedl that -.af..pair .ofaspacednparallel members :are prol:vided::upon fthe lsame .devel with! the 2 floorm'of n Aare advanced to the .left Fig2 the spherical ,as clearly-shownJinFig.

6, whereupon the gattendantinchargescrewsup.theLscrew54Lsoithatthe'member 53 can be clamped-with respect to fixed member 52 and .j the bearing lwithin which the spherical member 24 is contained. Thus, it is apparent thatthe upper and lower end of shaft 20 of each carrier whilefree Vto rotate aregsuspended or arranged against'lateral orlongitudinal'AL movement.' At this timek fthe attendant in charge reversesthe motor 8 any convenient vmechanism not shown inthe drawings so that the setv screws of connections 33 are first carrier 2, and the connections 33 thereafter secured to place with the plunger free of carrier 2. In orderto secure rotation of vertical shaft` 2O of each carrier 2 it isnecessary to;

reverse thek movement of each motorS and the ratchet B,shown in Fig. 10, is employed to a carrier 2 is rotated, it being understood that loosened and the :plunger 9 yelevated free of a .effect therotation ofshaft 20. VWhen the mo-V ratchet A and the motion of plunger!) is thus stopped. At the same time, pawl 35 which has heretofore been riding freely over ratchet B now -actuates this ratchet to turn bevel lpinion 18 by which shaft 20 and container 2 are rotated. As the carrier rotates the rinsing solution `remaining in the "articles being washed is deflected through the apertures 23 ofa carrier so that no water remains in the tor is Vreversed vpawl 297rides freely over l articles the carrier after suiiicient yrotation ofthe carriers. y

i l Unloading station V The operator in charge nowunloosens the screws 54, and advances the trucks and the carriers to the unloading end 56 of the platorseries ofcarriers, has closed the gates, and admitted washingrliquid or suds to the tub. Thisoperation is repeated and repeated in a unloaded aty platformh56, the attendantin charge of tub 3 hasaccumulated a new.- group Iall() contuous and upbroke system, therebyrrr pro- 'Apparatus of the character stated'consstv ing of an overheadktrackforithe travel there-V over n'aeontinous direction of a clothes carrervvhch hasa reciprocal plunger therein,fa

suds tub, a gate atieaeh end ofthe tub operable to permit passage of said fcarrier, 1: val'vedmeans for' supplyuig liquid 'to the tub, and meansvOr operating theplunger While said carrier is in said tub.

BARTIN J. COADY. 

